At the end of this route
by The Deceiving Maiden
Summary: They have set this route to become like this. But they have the right to know what's going on, so they'll tell them. Everything. Before they create another route. SPOILERS FOR THE MISSING CHILDREN AND HEAVILY BASED ON A THEORY FROM THE NOVEL AND OUTER SCIENCE
1. Chapter 1

**Deceiver: Guys, official name of Kagepro is actually Kagerou ****_Daze_****. It's been confirmed already.**

**Also this contains major spoilers, and this Deceiver's theory on what's going on. Full Theory is on Tumblr and if anyone likes to read, I'll give you the link :)**

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**At the end of this route**

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This was not Kagerou Daze, that's for sure. And some of them were supposed to be dead or turned into a psychotic killer a few moments ago.

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It all started out with the gang entering that world together, hoping to find the ones they lost in there, knowing the risk of not being able to return or remember anything, even the times they spent together after they got their Eyes. But they had to push on, hoping to save those who were trapped in there because of them.

But all that went downhill once they all made it through, because the next thing they knew was that Konoha started to act strange, black snakes began to pour out of his stomach as the world that was supposed to mirror theirs slowly turned black and crimson. Konoha's expression, along with his attire and hair, changed into something that spelled evil, his eyes that were once a dazed pink glinted at them in an ominous shade of yellow. All of them had a horrible feeling and backed away at once, Seto and Kano had to stop Shintaro from running towards him.

And then they were attacked. Kano, Seto and Hibiya tried to protect Kido, Mary and Momo respectively. The idol screamed when the young boy was the first to get taken out by being shoved onto the road and have a truck materialized to run him over. Kido ordered her close friends to stop and for them to retreat, but they wouldn't listen, and they both died in the end from protecting them.

"KANOOOOOOOOOO!" Kido screamed when Kano fell backwards, mortified to see a bullet hole in his forehead. Konoha had strangled Seto to death with his brutal strength and the blond took the bullet when the dark android materialized a gun and aimed it at the leader. This time Shintaro and Momo had to hold her and Mary back when they tried to run up to their fallen close friends, tears streaming down their faces as they cried. This was not right.

"What the hell happened to you, Konoha!?" Shintaro yelled, horrified to see how the once innocent albino cackled at him. "This isn't you at all!"

"This isn't _me?_" he snickered at his remark. "This is me! This is what that stupid Kokonose Haruka wanted to be!"

The hikiNEET froze at this. "Ha…ru…"

"That's right, Haruka. One of your friends who died because of that quack of a teacher I killed! What was that guy's name again? Tateyama Kenjirou?" he continued to smirk. "Oh, how your friends suffered! He killed all of them, his own daughter too!"

"You're lying!" Kido snapped, but the dark android only laughed.

"Still in denial? Oh, you should know, dear failed leader of the gang. That's the whole point of why you and your precious boyfriends moved out of his house when he went obsessed with the power inside all of you!" he sighed longingly, eyes slowly trained onto Mary. "You humans are so stupid, always denying the horrible past you experienced and beg for it all to change into something better. That's why I got sick of our previous Queen…and want you, my dear."

Momo's hold on Mary tightened, glaring daggers at the android. "You…sick monster."

"HA! Aren't you one as well? We _all _have those snakes in us to become what we wanted. And that _still _doesn't satisfy you and you want to find your daddy. Lame!"

Shintaro gritted his teeth, stepping forward in front of everyone. His eyes travelled from the android's yellow eyes to the snakes, which were still gathered within Konaha's stomach and slithered everywhere. He narrowed his eyes. "Give him back."

Konoha cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"

"Give him back. Give back Kono…no…give _Haruka's _body back!" Shintaro stepped forward again. "That blockhead I knew back then is still the blockhead that became Konoha! He didn't want to become a monster like you! And he certainly wouldn't enjoy killing his friends!"

"Oh? That's rich coming from you!" the android mocked. "Back then your pathetic self didn't care about any of them. You never considered them as _friends. _That girl…her name again? Oh yeah, Takane, you always mocked her and fought with her. Haruka's no different; you ignored him for being such a scatter brain. But most of all…that _girl_, Tateyama Ayano, you killed her with your coldness towards her!"

"You're wrong!" both the boys turned back to see Kido, trembling a bit as she tried to remain calm and maintain the act of the leader. "Shintaro…Shintaro didn't kill nee-chan!" the raven haired blinked at her words. "She always talked about how great he is and the way the colour of hero looks good on him! She wouldn't die because of him, so don't you _dare _mock someone who nee-chan looked up to!"

Shintaro couldn't believe what he just heard. No way. "You're…"

She looked away, ashamed. "We…we were planning to tell you. Kisaragi told us how you suffered from losing your friends years ago. When we met you on that day, we couldn't believe you turned out like…this." She looked back up to him. "Ayano nee-chan trusted you, and I know we do to, that's why we made you join our gang, hoping you will help us and move on. And," Kido tilted her head slightly, a small smile on her, "we kinda looked up to you as a brother as well…the colour of your jacket reminds us too much of her."

Shintaro still couldn't believe it. This was…too much. This wasn't even the right time to hear such a confession, but to know this at the very moment when they could die any time soon, he was glad. So Ayano never felt saddened for him being so cold to her? That was good to hear. And one of her siblings proved that by saying how great he was. Him, a useless two years old hikiNEET who freaked out over any fast moving vehicles and being a coward for not moving forward, was looked up to.

But…

"I'm not that great," he said solemnly, looking down to the concrete floor. "I was always cold to everyone back then. I found everything boring and wouldn't want anyone to get close to me. But Ayano…" he sighed, "she never gave up on me. Always following me around, talking in a positive way that irritated me and dragging Takane and Haruka along. I kept pushing them away; to the point I thought I killed her. I even lost two of my only friends that day," he didn't know he was crying, and the regret he hid away for so long bubbled to the surface. "I lost everything, and I couldn't move forward because I was scared I would forget all about her. I'm nothing but a coward!"

"Onii…chan…" Momo began, but Shintaro shook his head. Konoha just smirked at him in glee.

"Heh, you look so pathetic. Wallowing in regret for more than two years."

He didn't answer, not right away though. Instead, Shintaro lifted his head back up towards the android, who was shocked to see a sudden determination flaring in his dark eyes.

"But ever since that day I got whirled into this crazy gang, I felt better. It was fun…and you ruined it." Konoha couldn't help it back step back from the snarl the teenage boy gave. "I finally met new friends, and they knew Ayano too. You killed them, you killed them and Haruka!" he stepped forward, eyes mad as he yelled, "_Give Haruka back right now, you bastard! I swear to god that I am sick of losing my friends and those stupid snakes that caused all of this!_"

Everyone was taken aback from Shintaro's sudden uncharacteristic outburst, eyes wide and cringing back. Konoha had to take another step away, showing fear in his eyes for a second before he glared back.

"Pathetic…Stupid. Unpleasant. Ridiculous!" he shot back and waved his gun in front of him. "I've enjoyed watching you all despair at your regrets and tragedy, but to see you all fired up again is _disgusting!_ It's about time," he aimed the weapon at Shintaro, whispering, "for you to die now."

Momo screamed for her brother to run, while Kido did the same. But Shintaro, even though he felt so much adrenaline in him, was glued to the spot. He was too scared, but he challenged it anyway. Konoha's finger was placed on the trigger, his lips morphing into another sadistic smirk as he got ready to fire and-

He gasped. He gasped in pain. Looking down, the snakes suddenly began to wither around frantically, as if trying to get away from something. Shintaro and the girls watched in amazement, not sure what was going on as the serpents all got dragged back into the pit of the android's stomach and disappeared. Konoha made choking sounds, staggering back and forth in agony while clutching his chest in pain.

"You…you _idiot!_" he roared, glaring down at his body. Shintaro, for a moment, believed that Haruka, whatever and wherever he was right now, was trying to stop him. "You…now you…_pathetic! Stupid! Ridiculous! Disgusting! _You go against me now!?"

Shintaro took a cautious stepped up, his hand up to reach for the android. "Ha…Haruka?"

Then he cackled. Konoha cackled at him when he snapped his head back up. "You…You're all so pathetic. I won't let you win. I won't let that Haruka…win," the gun he had in his hand slowly rosed up and placed against his forehead. Everything in Shintaro ran cold. "As if I can let this weak human win against me…I won't allow it."

In a rush, Shintaro was running towards him at a great speed, ignoring the girls cries and reaching for the weapon in the android's hand. He was not going to let it happen, one of his friends were alive and he was not losing him!

"Haruka!"

**BANG**

The gunshot echoed around the small world as they all watched the finale of the event played before them. It was as if everything was set at a slow pace, the blood splattered out and was going to land on the ground and Konoha's face. Shintaro was falling forward. Falling. Falling. With everyone's eyes on him, even Konoha's, until he landed on the ground with a thud.

His blood was pooling beneath him.

"_ONII-CHAAAAAAAAAN!_"

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**Deceiver: Continue?**

**Yes? No?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Deceiver: I can't believe this…**

**1. I got five reviews, three favs and six follows on this fanfic that I thought up ****_originally_**** over ****_one night._**

**I love you guys**

**2. Summer Time Record PV is out and OMG I LOVE ALL THE KAGEPRO FANS EVEN MORE! TAT**

**…Sorry…I'll continue now?**

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It would be a lie if Shintaro said he didn't see that one coming. And that he never imagined what death was like.

After his school friends died and before Ene came into his life, he had the urge to join them. There was this pair of unused scissors that always sat in his old pencil case, along with the pens and rubbers he had long abandoned. He didn't remember when he bought them, but they were just there, tempting him to use them for ending his isolation. He couldn't believe he was able to fight off the temptation to this day, and Ene helped him immensely. But now he's dead. He was half expecting his body and the world around him become cold, or being surrounded by complete darkness before a bright light would shine at him from the end of a tunnel.

None of that happened. Instead his body still felt the same, the world around him was dyed in such a soft, light colour, yet it couldn't be considered as white. Parts of it had faint images appearing and disappearing, so he couldn't see them clearly. This place, where ever he was, was also accompanied by the fresh breeze of summer air, even its warmth.

Fumbling for the smart phone in his pocket, he unlocked it and expected a certain blue cyber girl to appear. "Ene?" Nothing, so he was all alone. Creasing his eyebrows, Shintaro surveyed the place some more and felt a slight familiarity from it. Sitting up, he looked around where he was. He was alone, that's for sure, but why did he feel like he been here before?

_Can you hear me?_

The voice was very faint, yet he recognized it _instantly_. Spinning around, Shintaro called out her name and noticed he wasn't alone anymore.

It was someone he did not expect though. Because behind him was a small girl, clad in almost utter black attire and her hair was wild like snakes. She was staring at him with crimson red eyes, her scaly face devoided of emotion. He knew who she was.

"You're..."

"So you actually made it," she muttered lowly. Shintaro was surprised by how old she sounded, despite her youthful appearance. "I doubted this would actually work, but I was proven wrong by those girls again." She tsk'd and crossed her arms.

Shintaro gave her a cautious look, slowly straightening himself up. "You're...Azami, right? Mary's grandmother?"

She nodded. "A shock, huh? A young looking monster like me caused all your friends' and family's suffering. But then again, you all wouldn't be alive at this point if it weren't for me and my granddaughter. Oh, and your two girl friends too." Ignoring the teen's spluttering denials, she walked away. "Why don't we talk for a while? We still have a bit of time and I'm sure she wouldn't mind me talking to you. She told me how amazing you are and that was quite a feat you pulled back there. I'm intrigued."

Shintaro didn't trust her, but then again he was dead, so what else could he do? Ghost couldn't die twice, right? That would make it a, what? The second afterlife? He caught up to Azami easily, but remained behind her.

"So...where are we?" he asked nervously. The Medusa had to smirk at his uneasiness. "Is this the afterlife? And where are the others?"

"You, your sister and your friends are pretty much alive right now; even the ones that were killed by the snakes in that child. But I take they're getting help somewhere while they wait for you. Not sure if they will find out what's going on though, but it depends on where they meet.

"And as for where we are," she turned to him, a little amusement in her eyes. "I'm not so sure myself."

Shintaro stopped at where he was stared at her, dumbfounded. She chuckled at the look on his face, and for a moment, Shintaro was reminded of Ene. "But I have a theory, and let's see if you think the same too. Tell me, Kisaragi Shintaro, do you recognize the images around us?"

He cocked an eyebrow up at her, but looked around again. The images were still faint, but now that he was fully awake, he looked at them more closely. One of them appeared right in front of him, and his eyes grew wide.

"That's me and Kano at the department store during the terrorist attack," he whispered from the memory. Slowly, his eyes gazed up and saw another familiar, yet annoying, scene "And that's when Ene suddenly appear into my life…and there's her deleting the song I created. And that's when I woke up at the gang's base…and throwing up after the death coffin." He sweatdropped at it. "Over there's when I played against Takane in the shooting game…And there's us with Haruka and Ayano…" the more he looked at them, his eyes grew softer. "And that's when I learnt they all died…and that's when I met Konoha before he…"

He paused, turning back to the last image he saw. It was different from what he remembered, yet it persistently tugged him at the back of his mind. It showed him sitting on his bed in the dark room, staring at a blank monitor screen and gripping a pair of scissors in hand. The dark eyes that was supposed to resemble his was so lifeless that he couldn't believe that _was_ him. Slowly, he saw himself raise the scissors high into the air, the blade pointing towards his neck. Shintaro had only one second to register what was going on before he saw himself plunging the scissors into his throat, the blood spurting onto his body and floor as he chocked for air. Everything inside Shintaro ran cold as he continued to watch. He wasn't even struggling to live, just fell back onto the bed and wheeze out his final breath.

It didn't end there. The image disappeared but it was replaced with another. For some reason he was strangling Ene through the monitor, eyes still as lifeless as she watched her try to free herself. This was not right, this was not what happened yet why did he feel like it did? He couldn't help but let out a silent gasp when the blue cyber girl suddenly disappear in an explosion on pixels, and watch himself scream and thrash around the room in agony from what he had done.

"Sad to break it to you, but there's more." Shintaro turned his eyes on Azami, only to have them grow wide when the world that was so bright just a second ago become dyed in the same black and crimsons colours from Kagerou Daze. Above her, there were gigantic black numbers, reading '**12:30:00:31**' and was counting. Amongst the many moving pictures of killing himself and Ene, he also saw the corrupted Konoha murdering every single one of the Mekakushi-Dan. All of them had terror filled their eyes, screaming to run away while others cried from the sight. Shintaro couldn't believe Kano could have such a mortified look on him when he saw Kido got stabbed through the stomach, right before he was shot through the head like what had happened moments ago. And then Momo, _God, I'm going to sick,_ was torn limb by limb when she tried to protect the two smallest member of their gang and stepped between them and Konoha. _Please don't let her die like this. Don't…_

Everyone died again and again in those image, same but each one looked more brutal than the last. And it always ended with Konoha dragging Seto's decapitated body behind, while Mary cried and screamed for this to end.

"What…is this…" he breathed out, trying to fight back the bile collating in his throat when Mary once again screamed as slithering white light came out of his friends' corpses and Konoha turned into stone. Azami watched with him, before sighing in pity.

"Too much for you? Of course," she turned away from him, and that was when Shintaro noticed there was actually one person with them. He was huddled on the floor, knees drawn to his chest with his arms around it and his head buried in it. He recognized that person any where. It was _him. _"A human can't carry hundreds of years' worth of memory all at once. Knowing the route you and everyone were supposed to take could tear down a soul." She looked up at the clock. "It's almost time. And it all depends on you now. Now that you know why you're even here in the first place, what are you going to do?"

Everything Azami said fell to death ears, because Shintaro didn't understand what a single word meant as he rewatched the scenes played before him again. Again he watched them die, and when he saw Kido stabbed before Kano' and Seto's eyes, he winced. He knew they were a family together, but now he also knew they were Ayano's siblings. He thought they were tragic enough with what happened to them, but now another person that was close died because of…

_Can you hear me?_

The voice snapped him back into reality, before he shook his head vigorously. He couldn't get so emotional right now. He already got through Ayano's death thanks to everyone, and if there was a reason he was here, he must figure out why. He looked up at the images again, hardening his heart as best as he could as he watched Mary scream and petrify Konoha again. Why were there so many images of this scenario happening instead of the one he remembered? Azami said something about he should remember all this…so it happened before? _Supposed _to happen?

"I won't approve of this."

Those words left his mouth naturally as he only focused on the things that mattered. He realized that he and Ene weren't with them, not even once. The ones with them in it showed him getting dragged along by the gang and wind up in one crazy situation after the next. There was Kano and Seto talking to him about his interest in the girls, Kido acting like a mother when Hibiya fell ill, Mary asking what was wrong with Ene when she didn't appear on his smartphone, and Momo and Hibiya coming back after training his Eyes. That was something he, and was sure everyone else, wanted to have forever and reject the irrationality that would destroy their future.

The clock was near '**12:32' **now. He felt that there wasn't much time and Azami seem to be done with talking with him. She just stared at his other self, stuck on one place. Well, he was not going to do that, so he marched forward, not turning back even when he heard Azami let out an 'Oh? So you're going against it as well?'

Right after that, the world cackled, cracks suddenly appearing and growing to connect with each other. The raced across the images, ruining them before they all shattered with a loud blast. Shintaro let out a surprised yelp and stepped back, watching the falling pieces all around him. The ones that contained him and the gang were dissolving into sparkles of light, while the ones without him dissolved away into nothing. There were two shards of image, still large enough to be made out, caught his attention. One of them showed him being dragged along by Ayano, who was smiling and laughing along with Haruka while Takane scowled at him. Shintaro smiled a tiny bit, but it dropped when he saw the next shard. Ayano, a younger version of herself but still with her trademark red scarf, was laughing and running away from three children. Shintaro wouldn't have believed what he was seeing if Kido didn't tell him Ayano was her, Seto' and Kano's big sister. They all had the brightest smiles when they called Ayano 'onee-chan', eyes bright red when Ayano spun around to engulf them into a big hug. They all laughed together, clinging to one another other in glee before the image faded away. Shintaro stared after it as the remains lingered a bit.

_Her smile…was for everyone…_Shintaro thought as she began to haunt his mind again. _Kido doesn't even know me well…yet she believed I was never the one who pushed her to jump off the school roof…_ he clutched his hands into fist tightly, containing a frustrated growl as much as he could._ Ayano…just this once…I want to understand you…why did you die?_

Once all the shards disappeared and scattered away as light, Shintaro had to make sure he was not seeing things. The world around him now took another form; this time of a familiar, old classroom that was now dyed in the colour of the setting sun. All the desks around him had a single vase with a flower in it, save for the one that he used to sit in, which had a paper crane Ayano from his test paper.

And she saw her. Standing by the window, with her eyes closed and a smile on her. She looked so content, like she was enjoying the summer breeze during the setting sun. Ayano hadn't changed at all, still with that red scarf and the black uniform she liked to wear the most. Before he could say anything, his eyes went wide when she turned to him, still smiling, and showed off her bright red eyes.

And then...

_Ah, so that's why._

If he was still the person he was before he met everyone, he would have scrambled on his feet, desperately trying to take Ayano with him and beg her to not leave, dream or not. But instead, he calmly walked up to her, eyes focused on hers as the pieces to the mystery of her death gathered in his mind. She was there, that's all it mattered.

Once he was in front of her, only at arms reach, the smile saddened a little.

"Shintaro..." she murmured softly, "It's been so long."

The teen continued to stare, unable to say anything. What was he supposed to say? 'Come back?' No, he couldn't and it should not be allowed to be said. As much as he wanted her back to stay with everyone again, deep down he knew it was inevitably impossible.

"I'm sorry I died," she went on, tilting her head. "Should I say goodbye?"

It was when those lonely words came out, he came to a realization. Ayano seem to know it too, looking up at him with a bit of hope. Shintaro gulped, before sighing and shook his head in disappointment.

"You're an idiot," that took Ayano's smile away instantly. "But," Shintaro couldn't believe he could still smile at a time like this. Letting out another sigh, he stared at her and lazily said, "Yeah, goodbye."

The look on Ayano's face slowly made Shintaro self aware. She looked so surprised by what he said, as if he said something really unbelievable. Before he could ask what was wrong, a single giggle bubbled up from her. She was laughing, and it couldn't be stopped.

"Wh-What!?" he squawked, blushing. Ayano laughed harder as the breeze blew the white curtains behind her. She tried to stop, but it was no use. Shintaro could feel himself getting annoyed and he was about to yell at her to stop, only to have himself pulled closer to her face when she suddenly unraveled her scarf and draped it around his neck. Their faces were only mere inches apart, her breath warm against his.

"I'm so happy you're here," she whispered softly, smiling again. Her red eyes were so bright as he stared into his black ones. "I knew my hero would come and save the day."

Shintaro gave her a confused look. "Me?"

She nodded her head, her eyes staring intently his. "So please, Shintaro, take them."

At that very moment, Shintaro's eyes stung. He wanted to pull back and press his hands against them, but Ayano wouldn't let him as she transferred everything she wanted to give into him. It was hot, getting too hot to the point it felt like they were on fire. At the back of his mind, Shintaro wondered if they all went through the same thing when they got out of Kagerou Daze.

"It'll be over soon," he heard Ayano's voice whispered in reassurance. It better be, or he was going go blind at this rate.

A moment passed, with Shintaro and Ayano still staring into each other, and the pain finally subsided. The hikiNEET had to blink back the remaining pains and before he could focus on Ayano again. Her eyes returned to their normal colour, and she was raveling the scarf around his neck. Once she was done, she stepped back, completely satisfied. Giving him another bright, thankful smile, another breeze came up, blowing petals into the classroom as the curtains fluttered up again. Shintaro closed his eyes for a second, protecting his eyes before he saw her disappeared.

He stared at the place where she stood, a hand coming up to grasp the red scarf. His eyes still stung a bit, but he should be able to handle it, just need to know how to make them work for him.

_So you left to get these Eyes, and leave me with all the work to save everyone, _he smirked and shook his head. "You're really an idiot. What kind of hero is that?" looking out at the window, he saw that the sun was still setting over a town he was sure was fake. "You expect too much from me."

Sighing, he turned away and looked back. What he saw though was not what he once again expected. Or he didn't expect there would be another person here with him _and_ he actually knew her. She was staring at him with familiarly dark, yet shining with life eyes, with her arms crossed over her chest in an impatient manner. Everything about her was different, except for the way she tied up her twin tails. He couldn't believe he didn't recognize her when he arrived into his computer a year ago.

"You have anything to do with this?"

Ene, now in her human form, shrugged. "Maybe," she dropped her arms to the side and scowled at him. "You know you've kept the two of us waiting."

"I didn't even know," Shintaro retorted, walking up to her. He looked at the clothes she had on. "What's with the outfit."

"Another time. Right now we have to meet up with the others and get going."

Shintaro cocked an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

And that, Ene gave him a cheeky grin and grabbed his hand. "You'll see," she piped up before the floor suddenly collapsed below them. Shintaro only had one fraction of a second to realize what happened, before he let out a shrilling scream as they both fell into oblivion, with Ene as his guide.

~.~.~.~.~

**Deceiver: Next chapter - with the Mekakushi-Dan.**


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